Posted in discojing.com

Strawberry Freezer Jam

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Can you believe this is homemade? And the most time consuming part was actually cutting the fruit! I picked these jars up (Ball® Collection Elite® Wide Mouth Pint (16 oz) Jars with Lids and Bands) in a 4-pack at our local Wegmans. I liked the other styles and sizes better, but I didn’t want to buy 12 or 24 jars because of lack of open space in our apartment.

I bought one container of strawberries, which yielded 2 cups of fruit, mixed it with 4 cups of sugar, a pouch of Sure-Jell pectin, and set out overnight at room temperature (after following directions on the Sure Jell insert). I then refrigerated the jars (this recipe made about 3 jars of jam). The jam was a little too syrupy (impatience?), so I froze it and it worked great! Not thick like jelly or preserves, but great on toast and sandwiches. Truth be told, I was inspired by The Bitten Word (and SeriousEats since they were featured there as well) and the fact that I was trying to make strawberry syrup for my pickling experiment. More on that later…

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Kung Pao Tofu, Broccoli Salad

Kung Pao Tofu, Broccoli/Carrot Slaw, Rice with Basil

August 13th – Thankfully, this was the last of the kung pao tofu. I think from now on I won’t take short cuts with my fried tofu! (Unless it’s frozen and I’m using it in a Japanese dish). The broccoli/carrot slaw is mixed with some raisins and coconut lime dressing per the bag’s suggestion, but it just didn’t turn out right at all. The rice to the left has a home grown (boyfriend’s mom) basil leaf on it!

Kung Pao Tofu and Tea Talk

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August 12th – Okay, I lied. THIS is the last of the purple potato salad. This is a new bento that I purchased from Bento Crazy. I don’t know how I missed this store before, but she’s right by me in Maryland too! Many many (too many!) cute things that caused me to spend an exorbitant amount of unnecessary money. This bento is now living at my sister’s house. She started college yesterday and I thought this would be a nice and fun bento to ease her into making lunches. It comes with a nifty bag and I love the gold glittery interior. Chopsticks are from UGM (loFt, Japan).

Some homemade kung pao tofu (read: Chinese fried tofu cooked in store bought kung pao sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds), purple potato salad, raisins, and a ginger senbei cracker. Rice is sprinkled with some scallions. The tofu had gone bad before I cooked it. In fact, the outer fried skin of the tofu had some mold spots on it. But, I took my dad’s advice and just cut around the molded parts and cooked it anyways. I don’t know if this was part of the equation, or if I just don’t like big triangles of refrigerated fried tofu, but the texture was off.
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Mini Turkey Sammies, Purple Potato Salad

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August 7th – This was the last of the purple potato salad, besides of course, the amount that I ate straight out of the container when I got home. My boyfriend made the cute potato roll turkey sandwiches in the top box. Potato salad is joined with pretzels and honeydew mochi in the bottom. This is a very “potatoey” lunch I just realized.

Buzz Bakery

Buzz Bakery: August!

This is an update on my previous post about Buzz Bakery. We’ll leave the scores all the same, but I’ll share my experience, which I have mixed feelings about.

I returned back to Buzz Bakery August 15th to try their much-famed flavor-of-the month cupcake: Bacon. The bacon cupcake consists of a chocolate cake topped with peanut butter mousse and sprinkled with crisped pieces of thick-cut applewood smoked bacon. Sounds all fine and dandy right? Wrong! This cupcake, touted as the cashier’s “second-fave” really leads me to wonder the staff’s tastebuds! (re: previous visit & toffee cupcake)

The cake itself just tasted wrong wrong wrong — lighter-fluid-doused kinda wrong. Paired with the frosting that tasted like the chipped gravy poured over biscuits in dining halls, I was turned off. After several bites of disbelief, trying to *force* myself to like this cupcake after all the media it’s received, the rest of the ‘cake went uneaten. Shame on you buzz, shame.

The trip was redeemed by some awesome Candyland and a glass of fresh, thirst-quenching lemonade. And I know it’s fresh because the same guy that sold me the disgusting lard-cake fresh-squeezed it and mixed it in front of me! Mmm Mmm!

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